Hayes Museum offers Arbor Day tree tour

FREMONT – In celebration of Arbor Day, the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums will offer a morning tree tour of Spiegel Grove and dedicate one of its trees to a former building and grounds superintendent on Friday, April 25. The tree tour begins at 8 a.m. at the museum entrance and will last about an hour. Participants will see some of the many trees at the Grove, which an accredited arboretum, and learn some of the history of the trees. Tickets are required and are available at rbhayes.org. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for ages 6-18, free for ages 5 and younger. Hayes Presidential members can enjoy this tour for free. The tour will end at the large American Sycamore tree behind the Hayes Home. At 9 a.m., the sycamore will be dedicated in honor of retired Building and Grounds Superintendent John Bell. Bell worked at Hayes Presidential for more than 40 years and retired in June 2022. He lived on the property in the Carriage House. The sycamore is his favorite tree at the Grove, and he enjoyed watching the sun rise each morning and illuminate the sycamore's branches. Bell plans to attend the dedication. Hayes Presidential is a Level 2 arboretum accredited by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum for achieving particular standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens. Level 2 arboreta have 100 and more species of trees. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity and professionalism. Hayes Presidential is also recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world's arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants. Hayes Presidential is America's first presidential library and the forerunner of the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the state of Ohio and affiliated with the Ohio History Connection. Hayes Presidential is located at Spiegel Grove on Buckland Avenue. For information, call 419-332-2081, or visit rbhayes.org. Like Hayes Presidential on Facebook and follow on Instagram and X at rbhayespres and on Bluesky at rbhayespres.bsky.social.